Dear Reader:

Whether we share some Irish blood in us or not we are all familiar with the phrase “The luck of the Irish.” Since I am part Irish and part Scottish…I must get my luck from the Irish side and my worrying from the Scots who are still known as the “little worriers.”

Actually the phrase “The luck of the Irish” evolved from the American Gold Rush and the 49’ers who went west looking for gold in the mid -nineteenth century. The most famous and successful gold diggers were the Irish or Irish-Americans. (Luck comes from a Dutch derivative gheluc…reduced to “luc” meaning happiness.) Perhaps as we will see the phrase should read: “The Grace of the Irish.” (and everyone else)

For many Irish workers… gold didn’t make them happy…probably from sheer jealousy…because soon other cultures painted the Irish as lucky but not deserving of their riches since they didn’t work as hard as others who were not as successful during the Gold Rush. Soon this slander resulted in signs like “No Irish Need Apply” for jobs since they were erroneously deemed lazy and just ‘lucky.’

A popular phrase today is the reference to someone as “Happy Go Lucky” meaning a carefree person who keeps a positive attitude and happy vibes around him or her.

The question, once again is, however….isn’t luck just good old spiritual grace from God? The same grace that differentiates us from all other religions…the idea that we don’t have to earn “brownie points” to have eternal life…or go through a series of hoops and loops or climb up some hierarchical step ladder with tasks assigned to each level?

There is no check-off list of things we must do here on earth? The former “earn or burn” strategy was replaced by God’s grace through His Son. It is the true crux of Christianity that separates our beliefs from other religions.

Webster’s New World College Dictionary provides this theological definition of grace: “The unmerited love and favor of God toward human beings; divine influence acting in a person to make the person pure, morally strong; the condition of a person brought to God’s favor through this influence; a special virtue, gift, or help given to a person by God.” ( God’s most special “surcie” is GRACE)

Haven’t we heard people say (or ourselves) “Oh it wasn’t anything…I just got lucky?”

As Christians our “luck” has a much deeper meaning. We should be saying “We’re not lucky…we’re graced.” Not only are we “graced” with God’s unconditional love for us…we are also blessed.

I ordered some Kelly Rae Roberts note cards (which came in yesterday) and I loved this one for it’s simplicity…no words inside…the one word outside is all we need to remember. “Blessed” (by God’s Grace!)

Rutledge and his two sports buddies feel lucky and blessed just being together as they learn new sports this year. Unconditional love from family and God is a recipe for success. *And Eloise feels it too…every day… especially when surrounded with stuffed animals to keep her warm inside and out.

Little Rhodes definitely feels unconditional love and God’s grace…to the point of being the cutest “flower child” around!